the jackass is at it again

As folks headed out to happy hour last Friday evening, President Obama signed an executive order that could potentially give him the power to institute martial law in the United States in times of peace or during a national threat. The National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order will give Obama power over “resources and services needed to support such plans and programs.” Many Americans were shocked to find out that this order gives the president practically unlimited power over US citizens and their property. All in the name of national security of course. In the order it states, “in the event of a potential threat to the security of the United States actions are necessary to ensure the availability of adequate resources and production capability, including services and critical technology, for national defense requirements.” According to a White House press release, the US “must have an industrial and technological base capable of meeting national defense requirements and capable of contributing to the technological superiority of its national defense equipment.” In the order the Secretary of Agriculture can allocate material such as “food resources, livestock resources, and the distribution of farm equipment and commercial fertilizer.” The same goes for all forms of energy, health resources, transportation, and even water resources. According to the White House press release the purpose is to “delegate authorities and addresses national defense resource policies and programs under the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (the "Act").” The sneaky tactics couldn’t have come at a worst time, especially after the newly signed HR 347 or the “Trespass bill” and even more terrifying the National Defense Authorization Act that allows the president to detain and torture American citizens without due process. Although many see this as another power grab by the Obama administration this isn’t the first time that a US president has signed an executive order such as this. His new motion is just an update to executive orders signed in 1994 by President Clinton, which invoke similar powers in a time of crisis. Even Clinton’s EO 12919 was an amendment to EO 10789 which was issued by the Eisenhower administration back in 1958. Therefore lawyers claim that this Executive Order wouldn't grant the president authority he didn't have before signing it. William A. Jacobson, an associate clinical professor at Cornell Law School said to WND.com, “If someone wants to make the argument that this is an expansion of presidential powers, then do so based on actual language.” “There is enough that Obama actually does wrong without creating claims which do not hold up to scrutiny,” Jacobson added. But that's exactly the language of this order that terrified too many of those who bothered to read it in full. Even if the president never uses this power, the fact that he has such unlimited authority over Americans and their property doesn't sound comforting to people assuming they live in the land of free.